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A new vineyard has been planted in a farm near Dorchester, the largest in Dorset, says its owner.

New to wine making, farmer Justin Langham from Langham Farms, based near Milborne St Andrew, has diversified into in a bid to boost his business - and it's been a huge project.

The vines when they were first planted

Justin says: "The vineyard has been over two years in the planning, and I ordered the vines from a French nursery over 18 months ago.

"You can't just buy them off the shelf - you have to put in a very specific order.

"We've gone for what's called a high graft vine [which determines the fruit type], where most are usually low graft vine.

"There are a huge variation of types of vine so it's important to have the right type of vine for the climate."

A similar climate to France's Champagne region

There are several vineyards around Dorset, as the area is known to share a soil type and climate similar to the Champagne region of France.

Farmer Justin hasn't grown vines before

Justin says: "The climate we've got here and in the southern part of the country is very similar to how that region of France was 20, 25 years ago.

"We're all getting warmer, and they are now getting worried as their climate is getting rather too warm to produce their Champagne varieties they've been able to produce in the past."

Each one of the 33,000 vines, which were delivery in May, were planted using a GPS guided machine in only four days.

"It's an amazing bit of German kit. It means everything is in dead straight rows, which is one of the signs of a well managed vineyard.

"Although it doesn't actually produce better vines."

66,000 rubber clips

But the vine planting is only the start of it.

Says Justin: "Each vine needed to have a cane on it, with two rubber clips, then came the trellising posts that had to be put in.

The vines are growing well

"We got through 66,000 rubber clips, 8,500 metal posts, 240 km of wire - and all of those jobs have been done by hand and that has taken a lot of time."

And the work will continue: "The vines have to be pruned at the end of year.

"There's also a lot of spraying work to be done, because although we have a similar climate to France, our climate is a bit damper, a 'maritime' climate. So spraying it offers some protection from that."

"Then from the time of picking the grapes to drinking the wine, it's a two year period - there's quite a bit of work at each stage."

Justin is currently looking at the feasibility of carrying out the later stages of the wine making process on site at the farm:

"We'd like to do it but it has to stack up - it has to be commercial."

Classic Champagne varieties

Justin's vines will produce three different types of sparkling wine Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier - the three classic Champagne varieties.

The 33,000 vines were planted by machine

He chose sparkling wine as he says it can be sold for a higher price than a still wine, so making more of a profit.

But there won't be any wine from the vineyards for a few years yet.

He says: "It should, all being well, be 2013 [when we produce our first wine], but it's possible we might by the end of 2012. But I'm advised by the end of 2013 we should be drinking something by then."

Justin's hoping the recession won't prove too much of a deterrent for people either:

"I think there's a thirst for wine, sparkling wine sales are going up and hopefully there will always be a market for it, especially if it's made in Dorset!"